Meiji Perspective Poems
Inflations (Haiku)
Currency worthless
Buys no silver, nor a plow.
Mint will weed the soil.
International Affairs (Katauta)
Will you love me soon?
What bouquet, I’m poor, lovestruck?
"Flowers are nothing; send gold."
The Last Laffer (Dodoitsu)
I once brewed sake for all
My friends Fat, Friendly, and Tall.
But the taxman said, "Nay, pay!"
Now I brew for some.
The Taxman (Dodoitsu)
In May I paid him with my rice.
In June he wanted money.
Now, new money in July.
I'm avenged in hot sake.
Austerity (Katauta)
"No more dresses, dear?"
The province calls to the town,
Shocked at the sudden affront.
Foreign Trade (Sedōka)
I can't sell our silk
My map is from the Dutch days.
Oh how will I disappoint!
Tea is needed in Cali.
Silk is wanted in Cleveland.
My Niigata stay.
Metal Acrostic (Sedōka)
A ring for her hand
Glowing like the slender moon
January nights alight.
Polished stone ablaze
All that glitters is inset
Upon her fingers.
Expansion 1895 (Haiku)
Sunrise in China.
Curious envoys meet me.
Will it yet rise more?
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